The triple has been perfected: Following the win of the DTM manufacturers’ championship, Audi also secured early title wins in the drivers’ and teams’ championships at the Nürburgring. The first DTM Champion in the new turbo era is René Rast, who only needed to finish Sunday’s race in third position to win the title.

“I still can’t believe it,” said the 32-year-old German, who only found out that he won the title as early as in the season’s third from last race from his race engineer on team radio after crossing the finish line. “What a year! We were extremely strong nearly everywhere. Clinching the title even before the last race weekend is incredible. Team Rosberg, which did a fantastic job, has a really big part in this. And Audi of course: the Audi RS 5 DTM has been the best car this year with the best turbo engine.”

“We didn’t expect to win the championship so early and, above all, not in such a dominant way,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass, after Audi had taken the top seven spots in Sunday’s race. “René (Rast) is now a two-time DTM Champion – and deservedly so in every respect. He’s shown an impressive season. Congratulations to him, to his team, but also to the whole Audi family. ‘Thank you’ to all who made this outstanding success possible: It’s fantastic to work with such a great team! Today, we’re going to have a big party. And afterwards, we’ll look forward to the finale at Hockenheim together with the cars from the Japanese Super GT. That’s going to be another absolute highlight.”

Following his victory on Saturday, Rast, with second place in qualifying – just one thousandth of a second behind Jamie Green – and third position in the race scored exactly the number of points he need for his early title win. Before the last two rounds, the driver from Audi Sport Team Rosberg has an unreachable 56-point advantage over his closest rival, Nico Müller, from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline.

After a sensor defect in qualifying, Müller started from 14th position. In his 100th DTM race, the Swiss fought back to the fifth spot before losing one position and along with it his last chance for the title shortly before the end of the race. “I pitted early and in the end was struggling with my tires,” said Müller. “After qualifying, it was clear that it would be a difficult race for us. Sixth place was the maximum. Unfortunately, the title race has now been decided. I’m happy for René and Audi, who did a great job and deserve the title. But of course I’d have liked postponing the title decision to the finale at Hockenheim.”

Rast’s teammate Jamie Green secured pole position and victory in Sunday’s race. The Briton prevailed against Rast in a direct duel and at the end of the race defended himself against the attacks by Robin Frijns who challenged him on fresher tires in the final stage. “I didn’t even know anymore what a victory in the DTM feels like,” said Green. “My last victory was two years ago. All I can say is: it feels fantastic! It was a superb battle today. All Audi drivers wanted to win. I’m happy that I saved victory across the finish line.”

With Loïc Duval, Jonathan Aberdein, Nico Müller and Mike Rockenfeller in positions four, five, six and seven, Audi celebrated a 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 success on Sunday, marking the so far best result of a manufacturer in the new turbo era of the DTM.

Audi is assured of winning the title in the teams’ championship, too, with Audi Sport Team Rosberg and Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline going head to head for it in the finale at Hockenheim on October 5 and 6.

The specified fuel consumption and emission data have been determined according to the measurement procedures prescribed by law. Since 1st September 2017, certain new vehicles are already being type-approved according to the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), a more realistic test procedure for measuring fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Starting on September 1st 2018, the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) will be replaced by the WLTP in stages. Owing to the more realistic test conditions, the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions measured according to the WLTP will, in many cases, be higher than those measured according to the NEDC. Therefore, the usage of CO2 emission values measured according to WLTP for vehicle taxation from 1st September 2018 on can cause changes in this regards as well. For further information on the differences between the WLTP and NEDC, please visit
www.audi.de/wltp.

We are currently still required by law to state the NEDC figures. In the case of new vehicles which have been type-approved according to the WLTP, the NEDC figures are derived from the WLTP data. It is possible to specify the WLTP figures voluntarily in addition until such time as this is required by law. In cases where the NEDC figures are specified as value ranges, these do not refer to a particular individual vehicle and do not constitute part of the sales offering. They are intended exclusively as a means of comparison between different vehicle types. Additional equipment and accessories (e.g. add-on parts, different tire formats, etc.) may change the relevant vehicle parameters, such as weight, rolling resistance and aerodynamics, and, in conjunction with weather and traffic conditions and individual driving style, may affect fuel consumption, electrical power consumption, CO2 emissions and the performance figures for the vehicle.

Further information on official fuel consumption figures and the official specific CO2 emissions of new passenger cars can be found in the “Guide on the fuel economy, CO2 emissions and power consumption of new passenger car models”, which is available free of charge at all sales dealerships and from DAT Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH, Hellmuth-Hirth-Str. 1, D-73760 Ostfildern, Germany and at
www.dat.de.